It has been well known in the past to provide various types of rolling toys with some form of push or pull propulsion. In most of these toys, two or more wheels are usually provided for allowing the toy to move freely over a supporting surface. The major drawback of this type of toy is the lack of any provision to allow this toy to be self-righting so that it always remains on its wheels. Thus, the common pull or push toy will merely fall over, if it is upset. If the toy, on the other hand, can be self-righting it will always return to a vertical upright position and be ready to be pulled or pushed no matter how violently it is moved.
In prior art toys, the self-righting characteristic is well known in stationary toys. These are the type of toys that have a rounded weighted base or bottom and have sufficient weight to allow it to return to an upright position when hit or upset in any direction. In years past, no toys combined the rolling and the self-righting feature which, in turn, would make a very desirable toy if it would function properly.
Although attempts have been tried in recent years to make a self-righting upright toy, none of these toys have been quite satisfactory and have proven to be unreliable. In some instances, the counterbalancing weights have not been positioned properly and consequently, the toy will right itself in some situations, but not all. This is especially true if flat surfaces are present on any of the surfaces of the toy which requires additional counterbalancing forces to obtain the upright condition. In addition, without the counterbalancing weights being positioned properly, the toy will not always remain in an upright position when it is being used especially if it is being subjected to violent and sudden push or pull movements.
In addition to the lack of a self-righting feature in most prior art rolling toys, none of these types of toys have been intentionally put together in an assembled condition to allow a number of rolling toys to be used together. In addition, there has been no provision to allow an upright self-righting rolling toy to be used in an assembled condition to provide the wheels or rolling elements for various combinations including wagons, wheelbarrows, and circular rotating assemblies.
The present invention overcomes this drawback by providing a self-righting rolling toy and arrangements for connecting the toys together by interconnecting links or rods which can be used to join two or more of the toys together with a T-shaped handle or to position the toys on either side of various objects to be supported. In this use, the upright rolling toys provide the means for propelling a central object.